UWONET Membership

Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) is an advocacy and lobby network of national women NGOs and individuals, operating in Uganda. These include:

Action for Development (ACFODE)

Action for Development (ACFODE) is an indigenous, voluntary, non-governmental women’s organization whose formation was stimulated by the United Nations Third World Conference on Women held in Nairobi in July 1985. After being denied the right of entry to the conference due to the overriding political control that was in Uganda at the time, the idea of creating a women’s organization that would not be controlled by the state or political party was conceived by a few women academicians led by Dr Hilda Tadria. Others included Dr. Joy Kwesiga and Dr. Ruth Mukama. The three needed to incorporate the ideas that had been discussed during the conference with in ACFODE’s mandate and so they approached Dr. Maxine Ankrah who had attended. She accepted to join them and this led to the birth of ACFODE. Since inception 25 years ago, ACFODE has been an effective platform of debate and action on issues related to the women’s empowerment in Uganda. This has been done through consolidated advocacy for policy formulation, research, capacity building, coalition building, mobilization and sensitization as her core strategies geared towards enhancing the capacity of Ugandans to champion the women’s cause and gender equality on the national agenda. Vision: A just society where gender equality is a reality. Mission: To empower women and influence legislation and policy for gender equality in Uganda. Core purpose: Advocacy for gender equality and equity.

The Association of Uganda Women Medical Doctors (AUWMD) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) established in 1987 with the purpose of improving the health status of the population of Uganda, especially, women, children and adolescents. Membership to the Association is open to all women doctors and female dentists working in Uganda whether Ugandans or not, as well as, female medical students. AUWMD has 150 members with a mission to build a strong professional Association of women medical doctors working in Uganda whose growing expertise will contribute to improvement of the quality of life of the disadvantaged groups, especially women, children, adolescents and the elderly, through advocacy, promotion of health rights and provision of quality health services. Mission: To improve and facilitate efforts towards the promotion and protection of the health of women, young people and children in Uganda

The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA Uganda) was established in 1974 by a group of women lawyers with the primary objective of promoting their professional and intellectual growth. FIDA Uganda established its first legal aid clinic in Kampala in 1988, with the objective of providing legal services to indigent women to enable them access justice. Today, FIDA Uganda has over 300 members, and offices in cities and towns across the country; Arua, Gulu, Iganga, Kampala and Soroti. While the provision of legal aid remains a core function of FIDA Uganda, the Association has adopted a broad range of strategic functions to pursue gender equality. FIDA Uganda is a much respected founding entity in the advocacy for women’s rights in Uganda, and a well-renowned voice for the women of Uganda. Mission: To promote the human rights and the inherent dignity of women and children using law as a tool of social justice.

The Center for Domestic Violence Prevention (CEDOVIP) is a registered non-governmental organization that was formerly known as Domestic Violence Prevention Project, which began its work in 2000 as a partnership between the National Association of Women’s Organizations in Uganda, ActionAid Uganda and Raising Voices. CEDOVIP is a pilot site for implementation of the community mobilisation approach described in the Resource Guide. CEDOVIP works in 22 Parishes of Kawempe Division, a low-income area north of Kampala where the majority of residents live on under one dollar a day in congested communities with limited infrastructure. Mission: To transform the power imbalance in intimate relationships in Uganda.

The Community Development Resource Network (CDRN) is a local, independent nongovernmental organization registered by the Non-Governmental (NGO) Board and the Registrar of Companies to operate in Uganda. It was founded in 1994 by a small group of Uganda-based professionals who were then involved in community development work. CDRN was established to support community development work through participatory techniques and to assist organizations involved in such work to be more effective in meeting their mandates. CDRN also recognizes the importance of influencing policies and decisions in the environment within which Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) operate. CDRN is strongly committed to making an effective contribution to righting social injustices in Uganda, which are seen as arising from gender and other forms of inequality, poor governance, limited empowerment and denial of rights. CDRN’s Mandate: Provision of organizational development support to CSOs in Uganda. CDRN’s Vision: A well governed and just society where all women, men and children live in dignity and harmony

CDRN’s Mission: To contribute to the growth of a vibrant and self-determined civil society that defends the rights of the poor and promotes peace, justice, democracy and social equity

The Department of Women and Gender Studies (currently School of Women and Gender Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences-CHUSS) had its humble origins in a single basement office of the Social Sciences building. The Department of Women and Gender Studies (DWGS) established 1991 is a multidisciplinary unit whose mission is to contribute to development in Uganda through ensuring that gender is an integral part of the development process. In executing its mandate WGS, works through a comprehensive strategy that includes teaching, research, publication and dissemination; outreach, networking and advocacy; and gender mainstreaming. Specifically WGS aims at training a cadre of various backgrounds who serve in government, academic and non-governmental organisations and private sector where they are expected to act as catalysts for change and facilitate the integration of gender in decision making and policy formation.

Mission: Provide intellectual leadership for mainstreaming gender in all aspects of economic, political and social – cultural development.

Mission: To engage local government councilors in Northern, Eastern, and Western regions in dialogue with women and girls with disabilities to ensure that they incorporate the CRPD when executing their duties.

Empower Children and Communities Against Abuse (ECCA)

Empower Children and Communities Against Abuse (ECCA) was founded in 2002 by the former director of Hope After Rape, a Ugandan NGO working with sexually abused children. With her associates, Deborah Kaddu-Serwadda launched ECCA in an effort to take the focus of the problem of violence away from the victim to the environment that permits such violence to take place. ECCA addresses gender-based violence (GBV) through a multi-sectoral approach, examining the role of families, schools, community leaders, and social and legal institutions in perpetuating violent behavior, and identifying opportunities to direct efforts toward creating an environment that will not tolerate violence. Because the focus is on the community’s role, ECCA also involves men in its strategies. Programs include counseling, service referrals, CBO training, and advocacy.

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE)

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) is a non-partisan women’s organization operating in Uganda with its head office in Kampala. FOWODE grew out of the women’s caucus of the 1994 – 1995 constituent assembly (CA) that debated and passed the 1995 constitution. During the assembly, the women delegates used the caucus to increase their political influence, broaden the base for support of women’s issues and advocate for a gender-sensitive constitution in all aspects. The success of the women’s caucus paved the way for the formation of FOWODE as a non-governmental organization to offer a platform for Ugandan women’s learning, networking, sharing experiences and advocating for gender equality and equality in decision making process. FOWODE strongly believes that if women were empowered to participate at various political levels in the country, then the resulting policies, laws, plans and budgets would favour and strengthen the women’s empowerment process in Uganda.

Founded in 1974 in Geneva, Switzerland as an action oriented women’s resource centre to meet the need for information by women from various regions of the world. Isis-WICCE relocated to Kampala, Uganda at the end of 1993 with an objective of tapping African women’s ideas, views and problems and share the information with women at the international level. Since the move to Kampala, Isis-WICCE started National-and regional level programmes to facilitate the flow of information from Uganda to other parts of Africa and the rest of the world, and to contribute towards the strengthening of the Uganda and African women’s movement. Vision: Women living in Peace and re-creating Peace. Mission: To ignite women’s leadership, amplifying voices and deepen their activism in re-creating Peace. Isis-WICCE, a global women’s organization in Africa, is committed to fairness, equality and justice in all human relationships. Using various strategies, including the exchange of skills and experiences, the documentation of women’s lives, information sharing and networking, Isis-WICCE promotes the empowerment of women, and the flow of information and ideas leading to gender sensitivity and equal opportunities at all levels.

Send a Cow Uganda is a development Non-Governmental Organization founded on Christian principles registered in Uganda (S.5914/1894), affiliated to Send-A-Cow United Kingdom. Send a Cow Uganda (SACU) partners with farmer communities to impart knowledge and skills to overcome poverty and malnutrition. Send a Cow Uganda is part of a wider and growing network of Send a Cow UK funded country programmes that include Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Lesotho, Zambia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Lesotho. Currently Send a Cow Uganda has an independent Governing Board comprising five (5) Ugandans and two (2) representatives from Send a Cow UK. SACU Vision: “Uganda free of poverty and malnutrition” SACU Mission: “To work with vulnerable people in Uganda to overcome poverty and malnutrition in a sustainable manner through the development of animal production, organic farming and self-sustaining groups”

Slum Aid Project is a local women and child focused registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) started in 1991 by four female students then studying at Makerere University, pioneer university in East and Central Africa. It was then named the Katanga Project, located in Wandegeya, Kampala, capital city of Uganda. The project’s major goal was to address problems faced by women and children in the slums. The project’s operational area then covered the four zones of Katanga (Wandegeya) slum, i.e. Kimwanyi, Busia, Soweto and Katale. In 1993, Katanga Project was registered with the NGO Board as a community based organization. In 1994, the project was then facilitated by the Ministry of Women in Development now Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development to carry out legal education on rape, defilement, and domestic violence in Kampala slums. There was a recommendation that the name be changed from Katanga Project to encompass other slums of Kampala. In 1995, the project changed its name to Slum Aid Project (SAP). Vision: “To see that people of Uganda in slum communities live and enjoy fair and dignified lives” Mission: “To strengthen the capacity of slum communities (men, women and children) to challenge and effect sustainable change in their lives through research capacity building and advocacy.”

UMWA is a voluntary, registered non-governmental umbrella organization and an association for female journalists and women involved in information management from both government and private organizations. We want to enhance the visibility and status of women and other marginalized groups through awareness creation, capacity strengthening, networking and advocacy, to realize gender equality. Vision: A nation of women, children and men making informed decisions for gender equality and social justice”. UMWA’s aim is to provide development information to women and other marginalized groups for effective decision-making and advocate for gender responsive policies, legislation and programs for improved livelihoods.

Uganda Women’s Trust (UWT) is a non-governmental organization that was first registered in 1984 as Uganda Women’s Finance and Credit Trust (UWFCT) by a group of professional women professional with an aim of enabling low income women to mobilize savings and access credit as tools for economic development. This was done as a reaction to the failure of banks to provide financial services to low income people especially women. It was thought that access to credit was one of the best tools for the economic empowerment of low-income women and the betterment of livelihoods in their households and the community at large. In 1997, UWFCT transformed into Uganda Women’s Finance Trust (UWFT) and provided only financial services, primarily, credit and savings. As required by the Micro Finance Deposit taking Institutions (MDI) Act of 2003, it became imperative for UWFT to have two distinct components i.e. the finance and the non-financial services. On 1st May 2004, a micro finance arm called Uganda Finance Trust (U-TRUST) was created to handle financial services; while Uganda Women’s Finance Trust retained the non-financial services as an NGO. On March 4th 2010, Uganda Women’s Finance Trust Limited (UWFT) re-branded and became Uganda Women’s Trust (UWT). Vision: ‘Socially and economically empowered women’. Mission: ‘To provide skills and technical support to low income women to improve their socio-economic status’.